VZCZCXRO5985
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3917 3500657
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 150657Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0859
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 003917 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM AMBASSADOR CROCKER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: URGING U.S. NGOS TO OBSERVE IRAQI PROVINCIAL 
ELECTIONS 
 
¶1.  (U)  This is an action request.  Please see paragraph 
four. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Iraq's provincial elections, scheduled for January 
31, 2009, will be vital in determining the shape of local 
government in Iraq for the next four years.  The provincial 
councils to be elected will also hold greater power, as the 
Provincial Powers Law, passed in February 2008, will come 
into affect when they are seated.  The new councils will 
appoint the provincial governors and set their own budgets. 
Moreover, these provincial councils will be able to set the 
agenda for federalism in Iraq and could determine whether 
Iraq will see the establishment of new regions like the 
Kurdish region that has existed since 2005.  The elections 
will also set the stage for parliamentary elections in 2010. 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) 
has sent invitations to 77 international NGOs requesting they 
send observers for the January 31 provincial elections.  The 
list includes the following U.S. NGOs:  the Carter Center, 
the International Election Monitors Institute, and the United 
States Association of Former Members of Congress.  These 
organizations have not yet replied to IHEC's invitation. 
Embassy strongly supports the participation of American 
observers.  This would enhance the elections' credibility and 
be an important sign of U.S. support for Iraqi 
democratization.  (IHEC also invited the International 
Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, 
but these two organizations are training Iraqi political 
parties and observers and may not perceive themselves to be 
appropriately unbiased as international observers.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Action request:  Embassy requests that the 
Department contact the three American NGO invitees not now 
working in Iraq to encourage them to send representatives to 
observe Iraq's provincial elections.  Embassy, including the 
PRTs, and MNF-I will provide logistical and security 
assistance in coordination with the European Union mission 
here, which will coordinate all international observers. If 
Department is aware of other U.S. organizations interested in 
sending observers, we can convey this information to IHEC, 
which could issue additional invitations. 
CROCKER